Characteristics of aloe vera incorporated poly(ε-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth nanofibers as dressings for wound care

Recently, production of nanostructured scaffolds along with the therapeutic properties of aloe vera such as high ability of wound healing and anti-inflammatory properties could attract great attention. In this article, gum tragacanth, poly(ɛ-caprolactone), and aloe vera (5% wt) were electrospun for fabricating poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/aloe vera and poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth/aloe vera scaffolds. Scanning electron microscope results showed that increasing aloe vera to nanofibers composition, decreased average diameter from 1118 ± 53 to 501 ± 69 nm for poly(ɛ-caprolactone), and 184 ± 34 to 123 ± 22 nm for poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth mats. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry analyses revealed that aloe vera has been loaded in nanofibers structure properly. By addition aloe vera, the tensile strength and tensile strain of poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth nanofibers increased from 0.21 to 0.75 and 25 to 32%, respectively. Aloe vera loaded nanofibers exhibited satisfactory degradation and wettability too. Moreover, MTT assay demonstrated more fibroblast cell proliferation for poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/aloe vera and poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth/aloe vera nanofibers compared to poly(ɛ-caprolactone) and poly(ɛ-caprolactone)/gum tragacanth nanofibers. However, cells had favorable attachment and proliferation on aloe vera loaded nanofibers.